Louise Mushikiwabo, our foreign affairs minister was recently elected to head a community of 84 French-speaking countries with a population of 274 million around the world.
This is not only a personal achievement for Mushikiwabo, but a great and resounding win for Rwanda.
German Ambassador to Rwanda, Dr Peter Woeste put it best when he said that Mushikiwabo’s victory is “an expression of the amazing worldwide reputation of you personally and also a great recognition of the role Rwanda plays internationally.”
If this was music I would not get off the floor.
The soft-spoken but no-nonsense Mushikiwabo is an example of a new breed of leadership that Rwanda has cultivated in the last 24 years. Indeed, a shinning example of a Rwandan woman.
Say what you want, she has performed well and with confidence on the world stage, never shying away from telling all that will listen that decisions about Rwanda’s journey can only originate in Kigali.
And her performance represents Rwanda’s determination to make gender equality a reality. With 64% of parliamentarians being women, Rwanda has shown the world that our home grown solutions are working, and we shall continue to use them as we see fit.
To Rwanda’s critics and haters this must have been a bitter pill to swallow, because it puts to rest all their shannanigans and fake stories that all is not well in Kigali.
Balloney.
That 84 countries had confidence to hand Rwanda this awesome responsibility is a vote of confidence in Rwanda’s democratic governance, leadership and an acknowledgment of how carefully and peacefully Rwanda has maneuvered around the seemingly insurmountable obstacles since 1994.
One cannot ignore or belittle France’s support. Not only is this an indication that Rwanda and France are well on the way to making peace and a lasting cordial relationship, it speaks volumes about President Kagame’s style of leadership and President Macron’s ability and willingness to take corrective action since France’s role during the 1994 genocide against Tutsi.
Even though Rwanda replaced French with English as the official language in 2008 and joined the British Commonwealth, it is to the credit of strong and forward looking leadership of presidents of France and Rwanda that we have reached this milestone.
It has been a tough and challenging 24 years since the re-birth of Rwanda, and the road ahead is still challenging.
But Mushikiwabo’s election validates the fact that under President Kagame Rwanda has risen and is shinning again, with clean and incorruptible men and women. It speaks volumes to the vibrancy of our democracy and the resilience of Rwandans, as well as our solid institutions.
The state of our Republic is strong.
